Battle For 2013 Begins

MANILA, Philippines --- President Benigno S. Aquino III on Monday presented to his “bosses” the 12 individuals that would compose the LP-Akbayan -NPC-LDP-NP Coalition’s senatorial slate at Club Filipino in San Juan City.
Sen. Franklin M. Drilon, coalition campaign manager, said the senatorial slate is aiming for a 12-0 knockout victory over the opposition in the May, 2013, mid-term elections.
Aquino, who is also the chairman of the Liberal Party (LP), said the vote of the Filipino people, whom he calls the “boss,” will be substantial in continuing the reforms started by his administration in 2010.
“To our bosses: You will decide on the path this country is going to take. You will be the one to decide if we will continue to tread the straight path. The message is clear: right reforms, right changes, and the right decisions in the past two years,” Aquino said in Filipino.
“We want to move faster so we are giving you these individuals in continuing the reforms started by this administration,” he added.
The LP-Akbayan-NPC-LDP-NP coalition’s senatorial lineup include Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) Chairman Grace Poe Llamanzares; former Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., who will be pushing for his advocacies in agriculture; Riza Hontiveros Baraquel for women’s rights; Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, who will push for youth representation in the Senate; former Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar, who is an advocate of the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and who advocates for job generation; Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, who will push for education and job opportunities; Maria Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal Valade, who will be pushing for lower water costs; Sen. Loren Legarda, who will push for disaster management and mitigation, environment, and health advocacies; Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, Sen. Francis Escudero, Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.
A code of conduct – decency, honor, and integrity – will be the guiding principle of electoral campaign of the administration, said Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas.
President Aquino assured his “bosses” that these 12 candidates will continue to push for reforms started by his administration and never be involved in corruption.
Former Sen. Magsaysay, Bam Aquino, and Madrigal are from Liberal Party (LP) while Villar, Trillanes, and Cayetano are from the Nacionalista Party (NP). Legarda is from the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) while Hontiveros is from Akbayan. Angara is from the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP). Pimentel, the first to file his certificate of candidacy, is from the PDP-Laban but opted to run with the LP coalition despite his party’s involvement in the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) due to political differences with former Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, while Escudero, and Llamanzares are independent candidates.
Aquino said the 12 individuals who compose the coalition’s senatorial slate have been thoroughly deliberated.
Drilon conceded that the election campaign would be difficult but it would be made easy because the coalition’s senatorial bets are one in pushing for the reform programs of President Aquino.
Admitting that the coalition has not yet decided on a campaign strategy, Drilon said they would not adopt the traditional rallies of going from one province to another in tight schedules because this would be expensive.
The coalition would, instead, ‘’hold rallies in major cities and we will maximize our media exposure, especially in social media,’’ he said.
During the event, President Aquino also witnessed the coalition signing, represented by acting LP president Joseph Emilio Abaya; NP president Manuel Villar; Akbayan vice chairperson Marie Cris Cabreros; LDP secretary general Miguel Romero; and LDP vice president for external affairs Elpidio Barzaga.
Sen. Cayetano, a reelectionist, said the fielding of a 12-man senatorial slate by the ruling LP coalition should be a marriage of ideas, vision and commitment for continued change.
“This is a coalition organized based on a common reform vision, solidly grounded in good governance, and certainly not a coalition for political convenience,” Cayetano said in a statement. (With reports from Genalyn B. Kabiling, Mario B. Casayuran, and Francis T. Wakefield)